Jesus has the DNA of the Holy Spirit and  David.

ollie

Tomb of the (Still) Unknown Ancients
By BEN WITHERINGTON III
March 2, 2007; Page W13 Wall Street Journal

Year after year in spring, a new crop of religious dandelions pop up in our post-Christian culture. Like the real ones growing in my yard, they make a colorful splash that briefly captures our attention, until we realize that they are only shallow-rooted weeds, not beautiful flowers planted long ago in the deep rich soil of the past, such as Easter lilies.

Last year, it was the Gnostic nonsense of the "Da Vinci Code." We've had the "Gospel of Judas Iscariot," written centuries after the eyewitnesses were dead. This year it's a variation on the "Da Vinci" theme. We are not only being told that there was a Mrs. Jesus (aka Mary Magdalene). We are also informed that her tomb and that of Jesus have been found in Jerusalem; that DNA testing has proved that they are not related and so must have been married (how exactly does it prove that?) and that an ossuary or small casket of at least one of their offspring has been found as well. News at 11! Or, in this case, on the Discovery Channel's documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," scheduled for Sunday night.

In a surreal moment on "Larry King Live" earlier this week, the film's producer, James Cameron (of "Titanic" fame), told us with a straight face that we should all be thankful that we now have tangible evidence that Jesus existed. Actually, no serious historian of biblical antiquity has ever doubted that there was a historical Jesus. Yet it tells us a lot about the state of our culture that Mr. Cameron's remark, backed by pseudo-science, could be seriously made on national television and that the film's companion book has already shot up to No. 5 on Amazon's rankings. We are a Jesus-haunted culture that is so historically illiterate that anything can now pass for knowledge of Jesus.

No doubt there are those who welcome "evidence" that undermines the foundation of Christianity. Many people, though, are simply beguiled by the "obsolescence factor" in our technologically driven society -- the "newer" must be "truer" and "better." This outlook, when applied to a subject like the historical Jesus, attracts all sorts of unbridled speculation, and worse.

How momentous is the latest Jesus-as-you-never-knew-him story? Not very. It is simply not true, as Mr. Cameron's claims in his preface to Simcha Jacobovici's book, "The Jesus Family Tomb," that we have had no hard evidence for Jesus' existence before now except in the Bible. That ignores mentions in ancient Roman and Jewish historians such Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus.

The "Jesus tomb" explorers trot out statistics on ancient Hebrew names, claiming that the ones in the tomb sound too much like known Jesus family members for the similarity to be a coincidence. But since we've only excavated a minority of archaeological and tomb sites even in Jerusalem, most ancient names are still buried in the earth, making meaningful statistical analysis difficult. What we can say for certain is that most of the names found in the Talpiot tomb on the outskirts of Jerusalem have been seen in many places elsewhere -- in texts, on potsherds, in inscriptions, in the Bible itself. They are not rare even by the standards of the limited evidence we do have.

Any good scientific theory must account for all the evidence -- in this case, all the names we find in the Talpiot tomb and not just the ones that match the holy-family theory. For instance, we have a Matthew in the tomb, but Jesus had no brothers named Matthew. And where are brothers like Simon, or the sisters mentioned in Mark 6, and where especially is brother James? We actually know that James was buried within sight of the Temple Mount, and Talpiot is miles from there. Eusebius, the fourth-century church historian, saw the tomb and the standing inscribed slab in front of it.

You also have to ask yourself: Why would most of the holy family from Galilee be buried in a middle-class tomb several miles outside of Jerusalem in some sheep pasture? They were, in fact, poor and could not afford an ornamental tomb like this one. This family was from Nazareth, too, with connections in Bethlehem. Why wouldn't its members be buried in one of those places?

We also know that crucifixion was considered the most shameful and hideous way to die, a blow from which one's family honor did not soon recover, if ever. So shamefully did Jesus die that his first followers and even most of his family abandoned him: He was not buried by family members or by the Galilean disciples. He was put in a tomb near the old city that did not belong to any of them.

Of course, the main implicit contention of the documentary and book is that the Resurrection is demonstrably a fraud -- and thus, we must assume, people like Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, were prepared to be martyred in grisly ways to perpetrate a fraud. Resurrection had only one meaning for early Jews -- a miracle that happens to a person's body so that they are raised from the dead.

To skeptics, no amount of counterargument will matter. Yet it wouldn't hurt for the rest of us to exercise a bit of skepticism when listening to each year's new theories about Jesus and the "true" history behind the biblical narrative. Amos Kloner, the archaeologist who supervised work at the tomb when it was first discovered in 1980, has called the documentary's claims "impossible" and "nonsense." As a New Testament scholar, I will trust serious scholars like him. Make no bones about it -- they have not found Jesus' tomb.

Mr. Witherington is professor of New Testament Interpretation at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., and the author of "What Have They Done with Jesus?"

This Cameron dude's slicker than snot on a doorknob.  He was able to come from the other side of the world and find what Jesus' enemies couldn't find 2000 years ago.

Liberty University Scholar Says Discovery Channel 'Documentary' a Farce

Last week we heard the announcement: the tomb of Jesus Christ has been discovered. The proclamation surrounds "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," a Discovery Channel television special written and directed by Emmy Award-winning journalist Simcha Jacobovici and produced by James Cameron, famed director of "Titanic" and "The Terminator."

The TV special is being advertised this way: "It's the one discovery that could change everything."

The scenario: The tomb of Jesus has been discovered, discounting the resurrection. Further, he was married, with his remains alongside his "wife," Mary Magdalene.  And they had a son.

It seems the world has gone mad with attempts to denigrate and disprove the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  This documentary follows "The da Vinci Code" book and novel and many recent books that have attempted to discredit the life of Jesus Christ. 

But as the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us, there is nothing new under the sun.  These types of attempts to invalidate the truth of Jesus Christ have been going on for centuries.

While this alleged tomb of Jesus was discovered 27 years ago, the hubbub over it is now at a peak because of the TV special.

Discounting the Discounters

On Friday, during a convocation service at Liberty University, Dr. Gary Habermas addressed a packed house in the Vines Center to respond to the claims of the documentary.

Dr. Habermas' dialogue, which he titled "Has the Tomb of Jesus been Discovered?" cited ten reasons why the fanatical claims of Jesus' bones being discovered are bogus.

Dr. Habermas is considered to be one of the preeminent scholars of apologetics living today.  As a prolific author, lecturer and apologist, he has dedicated his entire professional life to the examination of the relevant historical, philosophical and theological issues surrounding the death and resurrection of
Jesus.

Dr. Habermas, a distinguished research professor of apologetics and philosophy, and the chairman of the Department of Philosophy and Theology at Liberty University, has also authored 14 books on the resurrection.  He is an expert on this historic event.

During his speech, Dr. Habermas noted that Christianity is based on data, not blind faith.  Here are three key facts on Jesus' life:

* Jesus was both God and man (deity)
* Jesus died on the cross
* Jesus was bodily raised from the dead and appeared to hundreds

He thoughtfully refuted the present allegations.

First, he noted that the ossuaries (bone boxes) at issue have the names of Joseph and Jesus, which were very popular names in the first century, with Joseph being the second-most popular name in first century Jewish history.  And the name Jesus was also quite popular during this period.  The fact is that many Josephs of the time probably had sons named Jesus.  In fact, he said that three or four earlier discovered ossuaries have been found and been identified with a father named Joseph and a son named Jesus.

Further, the name Mary was the most common female name of the era.  "Every fourth person was a Mary" at the time, Dr. Habermas stated.

But what about the apparent DNA discoveries?

The argument is this: the DNA of the alleged Jesus and Mary crypt discoveries weren't related so they must have been married.  Quite a supposition.  The filmmakers discount the fact that the Mary in the tomb could have been an adopted daughter of the buried family (very common for the age), the wife of a brother or even a beloved slave buried with the family.  There are any number of possibilities.

It's a non sequitur argument, says Dr. Habermas.  "There's no argument here at all."

Now what about Joseph?  The crypt describes the dead Jesus as the son of Joseph, who is also buried there.  However, as Dr. Habermas noted, Jesus was never identified by the disciples or his followers as the son of Joseph.  He was the Son of God.  (Note by admin: So the ones who would most likely have "buried" Jesus--if there was a body--would not have put son of Joseph.)

It is important to know that every source - even non-Christian sources - from the ancient world tells us that Jesus' tomb was empty after three days, Dr. Habermas notes.  There is no way for critics to discount this fact.

Since space prevents me from fully addressing the many rejoinders to "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," I would encourage readers to visit two websites to learn more.  First, I would recommend Dr. Habermas' website and Asbury Theological Seminary professor Ben Witherington's website.  I especially encourage pastors to visit these sites to discover excellent material for discounting the continuing effort to cast aspersions upon the life, ministry, death and (most importantly) resurrection of Jesus Christ.

He remains the only Risen Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords ... no matter who claims otherwise!

Has anyone heard if this is going to air again this week?

I am watching it now (I started hours ago, but my computer doesn't download fast).  The movie/documentary is full of fallacies, jumps to illogical conclusions and assumptions.  Exactly what I expected.

lol